#His response to characters or actors he doesn't like from franchises like Star Wars

[back-to-louis]

.

[twh-news]

Richard E. Grant Reveals Whether Classic Loki Is Gone for Good: "How Do You Top That?" (Exclusive) | CBS8

Richard E. Grant seems the ideal candidate to be conscripted into Marvel's cinematic universe: He's an Oscar nominee (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) who doesn't take himself too seriously (he's been in two Hitman's Bodyguard movies) and he's already on the Disney payroll (having joined the Star Wars franchise for The Rise of Skywalker). Yet, the actor says he and Marvel had never discussed his entrée into the MCU until Loki. "I'd been in Logan, but that's completely separate," he told me over Zoom. "I'd joked on and off down the years with Tom Hiddleston, because of some vague similarity in the way that we look -- me, a much older version of course -- about working together as father and son in something. I assumed because I was asked to play Old Loki, I thought, 'Oh, this is the call finally,' because of the physical similarity. So, that's as much as I knew." Grant made his Loki debut in the post-credits scene of episode 4 as "Classic" Loki, a Variant of our Hiddleston's God of Mischief who dons Loki's comics-accurate green and gold getup and ultimately goes out in a blaze of magical glory in the penultimate episode. Ahead of the Loki finale, Grant chatted with ET about answering Marvel's call, his one major complaint with his costume and whether Classic Loki is gone for good.

ET: Beyond you looking Hiddleston-y or him looking Richard E. Grant-y, what was it about this character in this story that you knew, "Yes, this is my part in the MCU"?

Richard E. Grant: Well, the key is in Old Loki, because being 64, I was older than anybody on the entire crew or cast. So, that was the clue in, I thought, "Old Loki, that's it -- I'm in the old age roles now."

What else were you told about him in that initial pitch? And was the costume part of it? Because it seems so much part of the character.

Yeah. And when the costume designer showed me my face on this costume that she designed and I saw the Jack Kirby drawings from the '60s, I thought, "Oh, great! As I have no muscles" -- as you can see -- "I'm finally going to be in a muscle suit. I'm going to have muscles like Tom has got!" And of course, I got there and I said, "Well, where's the muscle suit?" They said, "You don't have a muscle suit. This is what you're wearing." I said, "But this is like Kermit the Frog. There's no muscles. There's nothing here! How can I fight in Asgard?" [Laughs] "No, no, it's your magic that counts!" And I said, "Help me. Just give me the muscle suit," but they refused. So, I'm still sore headed that I was never given a muscle suit to fight Asgard as in all the drawings. I still don't really why they didn't do that, but maybe they wanted withered Loki. Who knows?

So, what was your reaction the first time you got all the garb on and saw yourself in the mirror?

Horrified, because I had no muscles! I was standing there like sort of a geek with these Y-fronts. I remember when I was a kid in the back of all the comics, they used to have these little drawing adverts with a skinny kid having sand kicked in his face. And they used to have these chest expanders, they said, "Send off for one of these chest expanders and you too could look like Thor!" Well, I never did, and I thought, well, finally, when I'm cast as Old Loki, this is going to be my chance. And damn, they took it away from me in that too. So I'm pissed at them for that.

How did Hiddleston react when he first saw you in it?

He said, "You have no idea what kind of response this is going to elicit when it comes out." I said, "That doesn't sound too positive or hopeful to me without the muscles, Tom." And he said, "No, no, believe me, I've been playing this part and there's a universe of people who are so obsessed and so ready to see Classic Loki. Be prepared for it." I didn't really take him seriously. I thought, "Well it's a TV series. How many people will watch this on a new channel?" Yada, yada. And how right he was looking into the crystal ball and how wrong I was, because since it came out last Wednesday, I have been absolutely flabbergasted by the response. My Twitter feed and Instagram have increased in vast numbers, and the response has been pretty astonishing. I'm amazed and grateful that it hasn't been negative so far.

I loved your post, by the way, about how your father would have reacted to this costume.

Well, he was right! I'm still at 64 earning my crust by wearing makeup and green tights. [Laughs]

I have to assume this was also your first time with an alligator as your scene partner?

It was. And in reality it was three stuffed cushions sewn together. Sort of fun to hold!

Alligator Loki is such a breakout star and I loved seeing the blue plushy you used on set. What was it like filming those scenes? Did it feel absolutely ridiculous?

No, because I was grateful. Very often you'd have dots or crosses or just a tennis ball on a stick to react to, so the fact that we actually had the soft cushioned shape of something alligator-like was a help. But it's just the nature of being an actor. You know that the CGI and the graphics and production design department, they come up with something amazing. What I didn't take on board is that, of course, he'd have these beautiful gold horns on top of his alligator sideways eyes. I love that. I've only seen the stills of it, but it looks amazing.

Your final moment in the episode is so powerful. I'll tell you, it brought tears to my eyes. On set, I imagine you're probably in front of a blue screen having to use your imagination. Tell me about capturing that emotion and how you and Kate Herron found that moment together?

The camera was on a big sort of jig crane thing that was at the highest section of the studio and I would follow a mark on that and they had, I think, three or four aircraft-sized wind machines blowing the Bajesus out of everything. And I thought, having wondered whether the helmets and the horns had to be quite so tight, I was grateful for them on that day because they did not move despite the amount of wind that was blowing at me. It was scripted to say, "He's laughing and shortly and cackling in the face of his own imminent, catastrophic death in the mouth of [Alioth]," it was very empowering to be able to just give it the full welly at doing that. So, I enjoyed that hugely.

You said you've only seen stills of Alligator Loki. Have you seen the episode yet?

No.

So, you haven't seen how the scene looks with all the CGI yet?

I've seen stills that I'm holding up the city, so I've seen that. I have never got used to watching myself on screen. I love watching other people, but when I come on, I just-- I'm astonished that I get any work. So, I've learned decades ago just to never watch. So, when you see a still, you don't have the horror of your shortcomings to mull over.

Well, I will tell you, you looked pretty bad ass in that moment.

Good. Thank you, John!

This seems like the end for Classic Loki, but if this series has taught us one thing, it's that Lokis survive. Do you think we could see him again someday? And are you down to play him again?

As you just said, everything's possible. But I think that's because his sacrifice is so huge and it's going out with such a bang, how do you top that if he had to come back? I have no idea. You know, it's not within my arena to do that. But I wouldn't say no, if asked. Put it that way.

[gronjon44]

Ok. So I'm sure this has been done before, but I want to make a sort of "Petition" as to why we need an Overwatch film now

As popular as the game is and as much content as it may have, we lack a concise story that fills in the gaps that Blizzard has yet to fill. I think we could really use an animated film that can fill in what we need and or don't have. I have theories as to why they haven't made the film yet and solutions as to how to get it done without complications.

First, the Plot Holes

One big plot hole right off the bat that needs explaining is Reapers motives. He was a loyal member of Overwatch and friend to Jack Morrison. And yet he oh so willingly swapped sides to join Talon, even though he was angry at them and wanted to kill them, proof being Antonio. And he lost his good friend Gerard LaCroix to a Talon attack. There is no explanation to why he's changing sides with no real reason, he just does it.

I think if we had a film we could be given a real reason to why. Maybe Talon explained that Antonio was the only one responsible for Gerard's death, and the new Talon was what the world needed. Or maybe after the attack on The Swiss base, the event that caused the final fall of Overwatch, he was brought back and brainwashed himself like Widowmaker, turned into a violent monster who only remembers a hatred towards Overwatch, especially Jack and Ana.

Now this isn't the only Plot hole or empty info slot that needs to be filled. We need more explanations for different events, like what actually happened at the Swiss Base when it was blown up, who blew up the base, was it an inside job, Is Mercy secretly Gay and having an affair with Pharah idk. We need info.

Now we'll most likely (and by that I mean hopefully) get more info from the cinematic videos they release, but those are few in none, with the most recent being Dva in "Shooting Star". They may give us additional information as they release heroes but that isn't enough till they realease something worth us watching it for more than eight minutes.

And on the topic of new characters, that could be another reason why they haven't given much else in story. They may not feel like they have enough characters yet for a full film. But they don't need one full film they have the potential for a franchise. They can use the cast of characters they have and add more as the film gets enough popularity and money to make a sequel. They have the money and skill to make a film on par with the likes of Disney and DreamWorks, maybe something better. They just need to do it. Even a simple phrase of, "Oh we're considering it" or " Oh we have something in the works" that's enough hope to last for a year and a half. A Film would not only offer a new advertisement opportunity, but it would help bring in New money that they're gonna lose with the loss pf Loot boxes.

Now for those who don't know, certain countries have deemed Loot Boxes a form of Child Gambling, and are ordering Blizzard to pull them from the game. America isnt being affected yet by this but it will be. And when it does this is alot of money that the game is losing. A film would make up for a lot of lost revenue, helping to bring the game out more to the public. And honestly, I think they need a new movie based off one of their games after Warcraft.

Unrelated, I like Warcraft as a film. It offered enough story to be filled in by a sequel, it could become a strong trilogy franchise, and it had amazing cgi. But here's the thing.

IT SHOULD'VE STAYED ANIMATED

Like I said, Blizzard has animation that's on par with the likes of Disney and Pixar, hell even DreamWorks. They could become a full movie studio with no problem. But they faced the same problem like all video game film's. They went Live action.

Some games could work in Live action. Rampage pulled it off well. But I think Warcraft would've done better as an Adult Animated film. Now don't think I'm talking about it being like film's such as "Sausage Party" or "Happy Time Murders". But I think it would've made a good film. Adults can watch animated film's, as long as they appeal to the wider audience. And this is what they need to do with Overwatch if it becomes a film.

If you go on YouTube you'll find plenty of videos talking about Potential castings for an Overwatch Live Action film. And not to say they're bad choices the actors are amazing I'd recommend Andy Serkis to be Winston the man is a good at playing CGI apes. But I think the film would just transition better as an animated movie. And it doesn't have to be for kids, I don't think people realize this. Adults can like animated film's and cartoons too there's nothing wrong with it. They just need to do it right.

Now, I could be dumb and they've been planning it for a long time. But the thing is, the game will lose it's relevancy. Other games like Evolve and even Fortnite. They have the potential to be great movies or shows, Fortnite could be an amazing YouTube series and Evolve could've been one hell of a movie with an amazing cast. But Evolve lost its chance to make itself relevant after it stepped up to the plate. And Fortnite does what it can to stay relevant and it does a pretty good job so far, even taking endorsements from Samsung and Avengers: Infintity War. But Overwatch needs to do something. Or it'll die faster than you can say "Cheers Love"